​Students who are blind or visually impaired experience a loss in the range and variety of experiences; restriction in the ability to get around; and restriction in interaction with the environment. To minimize these restrictions, students need concrete and unifying experiences and need to be a part of the action by “doing”. Here is a list of 12 Concept Building Activities you can do with your student.

Material ExplorationObjective: Students will describe object characteristics (ex. Big, cold, etc.) using at least 3 different words to describe the object for the purpose of building general concepts.

Present the student with materials from the unit of study (ex. winter clothes, sporting equipment, tools used for cleaning, school supplies, etc.). Encourage the student to manipulate and explore the objects and describe their characteristics. How are they similar and how are they different? Move through the subsequent activities, as appropriate for the student to extend learning and building of concepts.

What’s the Function?Objective: Student will demonstrate an understanding of the function of tools associated with the unit.

Present the student with objects and/or pictures (if the student has enough usable vision) of tools from the unit and demonstrate or discuss the function of the various items. Ask the student if they have had experience using or interacting with the item before. How was the tool used and by whom? When possible and appropriate, provide the tool for the student to explore and provide assistance and demonstration in how to use it (ex. cooking tools, power tools, writing tools, medical tools, etc.)

Category SortObjective: Student will classify pictures/objects into categories and identify if any objects go together using tactual or visual discrimination skills.

Provide the student with materials related to the unit. Encourage the student to sort the items in various ways, depending on the goal of the student. Have the student sort by color, texture, weight, shape, size, use or category. Then ask the student to sort in a different way.

Prepositions PlayObjective: Student will demonstrate an understanding of spatial concepts and body image by following directions.

Have students place unit related objects in relation to another object or self: top/bottom, front/back, sides, over/above, under/below, inside/through, away from, across from, next to, beside, to the right side, to the left side. Extend the activity by encouraging the student to carry out a series of directions incorporating the positions in sequential order.

RiddlesObjective: Student will name objects when named, when the word is presented, when described, the function is described, or by its texture.

Present the student with a selection of objects, pictures or words from the unit. Help the student develop familiarity and understanding of the materials and vocabulary by presenting the student with questions or riddles. Encourage the student to touch or tell the object: by name; when presented with the print/braille word, matching the word to the object; by description; by function; or by texture.

I’m Thinking of Something…Objective: Student will play a verbal reasoning game and identify objects that are described.

Play the thinking game “I’m Thinking of Something…” with your student. Use physical characteristics, or the function of a variety of objects from the unit, to challenge students to infer what unit related object you are thinking of.

Test your student’s memory skills by playing a memory game. Present the student with a variety of unit related objects, pictures, or words from the unit. Allow the student to study them, then have the student close their eyes while you remove one object. Encourage the student to identify what object is missing.

Encourage the student to identify the colors of objects presented in the unit. Are those objects ALWAYS that color? Can they be in other colors? Hailstones and Halibut Bones is a great book to incorporate into units throughout the year.

The Shape of ItObjective: Student will find/touch/identify geometric shapes on request and names shapes which occur in the environment.

Identify what shapes objects from the unit are similar to. Alternatively, encourage the student to create shapes using a collection of objects. Are the objects similar in shape to cubes, rectangular prisms, cones, cylinders or spheres. Provide models for comparison. Classify two dimensional shapes by their attributes (quadrilaterals, triangles, number of sides and angles)

Community Based ExperiencesObjective: Student will develop a more concrete understanding of unit and their world through direct interaction with their world.

Make every effort to take the student out into the world in order to experience it, or bring the world to the student. Not every school system permits regular field trips. Provide parents with guidance in arranging trips and suggestions for embedded concepts during the trip. Instruct the student that during the experience, you want them to pay attention to what they see, hear, smell, and feel. Bring along a portable recording device to record sounds to recall the sequence of events within the experience. Use a camera, iPhone, or tablet to take pictures.

Discussion Following ExperienceObjective: Student will reflect on their experience and communicate what they are able to recall (demonstrate memory) including what they heard, saw, smelled, felt, etc.

Upon return from the experience, encourage the student to discuss what they saw, heard, touched and experienced during the experience. Encourage the student to provide details and describe people, places and events during the experience. Play back audio recordings from the experience. As you listen, pause it to have the student identify the sounds. Encourage them to communicate feelings or ideas related to the experience. Make a list of these items/experiences, write a short story about it, or just retell the experience.

Experience SequenceObjective: Student will sequence the occurrence of events.

Use the recordings and/or pictures from the community based experience to help the student recall the sequence of events during the experience.

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